"...Local chefs and DJs Tatsu Aikawa and Takuya Matsumoto intend to provide a “distinctly Japanese experience” in Austin and their new authentic ramen restaurant, RamenTatsu-ya, opens to much anticipation this week in North Central Austin (8557 Research Blvd #126, Austin, 78758)...."

"...So regardless of how successfully they could pull it off, Kemuri Tatsu-ya already had a leg up by attempting something with a real sense of place. I hesitate to call Kemuri fusion, especially since the word conjures up visions of ossified Southwestern eggrolls and unnecessary taco pizzas, but I suppose it's apt if you need a filing system..."

"...Until a few years ago, ramen was something most Austinites purchased in plastic packages for a quarter. But the city's growing diversity and culinary sophistication has created new demands for global tastes, along with a swelling population of entrepreneurial cooks. You can trace the beginning of the ramen wars to May 2012, when Michi Ramen opened in a North Austin food truck, selling bowls of honest, slow-simmered broth and noodles. RamenTatsu-ya followed in the summer of the same year, with Daruma Ramen close on their heels. Add this to places like East Side King, Komé, and Banzai, which also serve ramen, and the city suddenly looks like a scene from the movie Tampopo, with soup devotees passionately staking their territory in one ramen camp or another..."

"...This confusion, however, makes me the prime market the owners of RamenTatsu-ya are looking for, because the shop wasn't opened just for enjoyment; it's also about education and cultural exchange...."

"...Ever since the September 2012 debut of RamenTatsu-ya, Austin has been booming as a ramen town. Charming newcomer Daruma Ramen is the third dedicated shop to open locally, and is located Downtown, across from Jim-Jim's Water-Ice..."

"...There’s no chef in town like Yoshi. The manic Kyoto-born punk rocker is obsessed with ingredients, transforming fish flown directly from Tokyo and obscure don’t-call-them-weeds from HausBar Farms into an intimate 12-seat kaiseki experience that tastes like nothing else in town.
Kemuri Tatsu-Ya
2713 E..."

We explore the link between the culinary and musical in anticipation of Hot Luck

Food StoryMay 24, 2018, by Veronica Meewes

"...At Kemuri Tatsu-ya, the music is as much a part of the dining experience as the playful dishes at the Japanese-Texan izakaya, and that transcends from the front to the back of house. Tatsu Aikawa, who began as a dishwasher at a Japanese restaurant while he started DJ'ing, and Takuya "Tako" Matsumoto, who got his start in kitchens in high school, serenade their 60-hour tonkotsu broth with a boombox playing everything from Pink Floyd to UGK to the Misfits..."

"...Like Contigo, RamenTatsu-Ya was also flush with extra ingredients after the AF+W cancellation. Roughly 350 servings of "tofu hot pocket," made with a tofu sleeve, brisket, scallions, and cheese, were able to be repurposed..."

"...Former Musashino chef Kazu Fukumoto opened his eponymous restaurant, Fukumoto, in 2015. Largely credited with lighting a fire under the local ramen scene, RamenTatsu-ya's owners/chefs Tatsu Aikawa and Takuya Matsumoto both trained at Musashino..."

"...The phenomenon’s most egregious at three different restaurants: Hopdoddy Burger Bar on South Congress, RamenTatsu-ya off 183, and Franklin Barbecue on East 11th, where the situation’s gotten so serious that there’s now a second market renting folding chairs for weekend waiters existing in Franklin’s singular ecosystem. Occupancy at those three restaurants during any standard meal time will require waits of up to an hour every time, with very few hits on the under...."

"...28) Kemuri Tatsu-ya
From the famed RamenTatsu-ya team, this Texas-influenced Japanese izakaya specializes in smoked meats, yakitori, and ramen, with a special menu of oddball beauties. We're very proud of this one..."

"...[image-2]
RamenTatsu-Ya (8557 Research Blvd., #126)
This bright and boisterous slurp and go shop has had lines out the door since the week it opened. Owners Tatsu Aikawa and Takuya Matsumato have an unqualified hit on their hands..."

"...But even so, it's hotter than hell in August. (How is that a saying? Isn't the whole point of hell that it's consistently hot & miserable? Let's say that it's hotter than Texas in August and call it a Davy Crockett callback.) Whatever language we land on, the miserable damp closeness of the humidity rules out the usual rainy day solutions: a bowl of bun bo hue at Pho Saigon, or spicy miso at RamenTatsu-Ya, hot tea, and a seat by the window to watch..."

"...The slant is, thankfully, in the direction of the fish. Both of the boxed-style sushi selections reveal the chef's training (chef Otto Phan had stints at Bar Masa, Nobu, and Uchi, while Leo Rodriguez worked at Sushi-a-Go-Go and RamenTatsu-ya)..."

"...shooting at Micklethwait Craft Meats and Spartan Pizza trailers, we had the production company from the popular syndicated TV show Beer Geeks shooting episodes at Jester King Brewery on one end of town and North by Northwest Restaurant & Brewery on the other. In addition to the rolling cameras, it was possible to read about RamenTatsu-ya's rich pork stock in the pages of Vogue magazine and to enjoy a profile of Big Top Candy Shop in Sunday's Parade..."

"...Serving savory bites like truffle fries, flatbreads, and a weirdly addicting chorizo-topped guacamole fundido, as well as a list of special happy hour only cocktails, it might tempt even the happily coupled to make the drive up north.
Bonus: Tiki Tatsu-Ya..."